Information processing device, display method, and program storage medium for monitoring object movement

ABSTRACT

To display with a display mode with which an analyst may easily ascertain actions (movements) of objects being monitored, provided is an information processing device, including a sensing and a display control unit. The sensing unit classifies, based on information relating to movements of objects being monitored, a plurality of objects into set movement paths. The display control unit controls a display such that the movements of the objects are displayed in a display screen of the display with an arrow in each set movement path. The axis of the arrow which is displayed in the display has a thickness according to the number of objects which are classified in the corresponding movement path, has a shape according to the trace of the objects which are classified in the corresponding movement path, and furthermore, the direction indicated by the arrow represents the direction of progress of the objects.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 17/002,451 filed on Aug. 25, 2020, which is acontinuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/365,833filed on Mar. 27, 2019, which is issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,825,211,which is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/508,573 filed on Mar. 3, 2017, which is issued as U.S. Pat. No.10,297,051, which is a National Stage Entry of international applicationPCT/JP2015/004526, filed on Sep. 7, 2015, which claims the benefit ofpriority from Japanese Patent Application 2014-184741 filed on Sep. 11,2014, the disclosures of all of which are incorporated in their entiretyby reference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a technique to display a movement pathof an object.

BACKGROUND ART

Research may be performed as to how persons behave within a shop, awarehouse or the like for a purpose of grasping purchasing trends ofcustomers or improving business efficiency of workers. For research ofbehaviors of persons, information to be obtained from an RFID(Radio-frequency identification) tag carried by a person, an SIM(Subscriber Identity Module) card number of a mobile phone or the like;or a camera image to be captured by a monitor camera or the like isused.

When behaviors of persons are researched, for instance, traceinformation representing a trace of a behavior of each person isacquired. By analyzing the trace information, information representingpurchasing behaviors of customers, or information effective in improvingbusiness efficiency of workers is obtained.

There is predicted an increase in demand for a technique which allowsfor an analyst to easily analyze trace information in a short time forobtaining the aforementioned information.

PTL1 describes a customer trend collecting method, in which flow linedata of a customer recognized by a flow line recognition systemconfigured in a specific area (a monitoring area) of a shop, andtransaction data of the customer processed by a payment device areassociated with each other.

PTL 2 describes a customer behavior analysis device having aconfiguration for collecting conditions in which persons who abandontheir self-service actions of choosing commodities from a self-servicearea in midstream appear.

PTL 3 describes a flow line simulation device of visitors, in whichmovements of visitors and conditions of staying are predicted. The flowline simulation device displays a probability at which visitors choose ashortest path or a main street by the thickness of an arrow.

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

[PTL 1] Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2011-170565

[PTL 2] Japanese Patent Publication No. 5,356,615

[PTL 3] Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. H06 (1994)-176004

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Technical Problem

In the configuration described in PTL 1, a flow line of a person basedon flow line data is displayed on a monitoring area (a flow line area)displayed on a display screen. However, in the configuration of PTL 1,it is not supposed that a flow line relating to a plurality of personsis displayed on a monitoring area.

In other words, in the configuration of PTL 1, when a result of analysisof behaviors of persons or a trend is displayed on a display screen,flow line data of persons as an analysis result is displayedindividually for each person. When the flow line data is individuallydisplayed for each person as described above, there is an inconveniencethat it may be difficult to grasp a behavior analysis result of aplurality of persons within an area to be monitored. Further, in thetechnique described in PTL 2, a result of analysis of conditions inwhich a person (a target person) who abandons his/her self-serviceaction in midstream appears is displayed. However, the movement path ofthe target person is not displayed. Further, in the technique describedin PTL 3, displaying a flow line representing how visitors actuallybehave is not supposed.

A main subject of the present invention is to provide a technique todisplay a state in which an object to be monitored behaves (moves) in adisplay manner easily recognizable by, for instance, an analyst.

Solution to Problem

To achieve the main subject, an information processing device of thepresent invention includes:

detection unite that classifies a plurality of objects to be monitoredinto a plurality of movement paths predetermined based on information onmovement of each of the objects; and

display control unit that controls a display device equipped with adisplay screen to display movement of the object on the display screenusing an arrow for each movement path, wherein

an axis of the arrow displayed by the display control unit has thicknessdepending on a number of the object in the movement path associated, andhas shape depending on trace of the object in the movement pathassociated, a direction of the arrow represents a moving direction ofthe object.

A display method of the present invention includes:

classifying a plurality of objects to be monitored into a plurality ofmovement paths predetermined based on information on movement of each ofthe objects; and

controlling a display device equipped with a display screen to displaymovement of the object on the display screen using an arrow for eachmovement path such that an axis of the arrow displayed has thicknessdepending on a number of the object in the movement path associated, andhas shape depending on trace of the object in the movement pathassociated, and a direction of the arrow represents a moving directionof the object.

A program storage medium of the present invention stores a computerprogram, the computer program causes a computer to execute:

classifying a plurality of objects to be monitored into a plurality ofmovement paths predetermined based on information on movement of each ofthe objects; and

controlling a display device equipped with a display screen to displaymovement of the object on the display screen using an arrow for eachmovement path such that an axis of the arrow displayed has thicknessdepending on a number of the object in the movement path associated, andhas shape depending on trace of the object in the movement pathassociated, and a direction of the arrow represents a moving directionof the object.

Note that the main subject of the present invention is also achieved bya display method of the present invention corresponding to theinformation processing device of the present invention. Further, themain subject of the present invention is also achieved by a computerprogram corresponding to the information processing device of thepresent invention and the display method of the present invention, and aprogram storage medium storing the computer program.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

According to the present invention, it is possible to display a state inwhich an object to be monitored behaves (moves) in a display mannereasily recognizable by, for instance, an analyst.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is block diagram illustrating simply a configuration of aninformation processing device of a first example embodiment according tothe present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a display example of an analysis resultby the information processing device of the first example embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example of analysisprocessing in the information processing device of the first exampleembodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating simply a configuration of aninformation processing device of a second example embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram describing a display example of an analysis resultby the information processing device of the second example embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram describing a display example of a movement path ofan object by a moving image.

FIG. 7 is a diagram describing a display example of a plurality ofmovement paths.

FIG. 8 is a diagram describing another display example of a plurality ofmovement paths.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example of an analysisresult in the information processing device of the second exampleembodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram describing an example of a hardware configurationof an information processing device according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating simply a configuration of aninformation processing device of another example embodiment according tothe present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

In the following, example embodiments according to the present inventionare described referring to the drawings.

First Example Embodiment [Description of Configuration]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating simply a behavior analysis systemprovided with an information processing device of the first exampleembodiment according to the present invention. Note that directions ofarrows in the drawing represent an example, and do not limit thedirections of signal between blocks.

The behavior analysis system 1 is configured for use in analyzing abehavior of a person on a floor. The behavior analysis system 1 includesan information processing device 10, a camera 20, and a display device30.

The camera 20 is installed in a state that the camera 20 is capable ofcapturing a floor to be monitored. The camera 20 has a function oftransmitting a captured image to the information processing device 10.The display device 30 equips a display screen (a display), and has afunction of displaying information by a control operation of theinformation processing device 10.

The information processing device 10 has a function of analyzing abehavior of a person on a floor with use of an image captured by thecamera 20, and causing the display device 30 to display the analysisresult. FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a hardware configuration ofthe information processing device 10 together with the camera 20 and thedisplay device 30. In the example of FIG. 10, the information processingdevice 10 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 300, a memory 310, aninput-output I/F (InterFace) 320, and a communication unit 330. Thesecomponents are connected to each other by a bus 340.

The input-output I/F 320 has a configuration which enables tocommunicate information with a peripheral device such as the displaydevice 30. The communication unit 330 has a configuration which enablesto communicate with, for instance, the camera 20 using a predeterminedcommunication method (e.g. a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) or aninformation communication network (e.g. communication via (theInternet)).

The memory 310 is a storage medium (a storage device) which stores dataor a computer program (hereinafter, also abbreviated as a program). Forinstance, the memory 310 stores a program which controls an operation ofthe information processing device 10. Note that the program is stored ina portable storage medium, for instance. The program may be written inthe memory 310 from the portable storage medium. Alternatively, theprogram may be supplied to the information processing device 10 throughan information communication network, and written in the memory 310.

The CPU 300 is able to implement various functions by reading a programstored in the memory 310 and by executing the program. In the firstexample embodiment, the information processing device 10 implements thefollowing functions by the CPU 300.

Specifically, the information processing device 10 has, as functionalunits, a track unit 100, a detection unit 101, a direction calculationunit 102, a time calculation unit 103, an accumulation unit 104, and adisplay control unit 105 as illustrated in FIG. 1.

The track unit 100 has a function of detecting a person as an object tobe monitored from a captured image (image including a floor (to becaptured (monitored) (hereinafter, also described as a floor image))using, for instance, image processing. The track unit 100 receives thefloor image from the camera 20.

Note that the behavior analysis system 1 described in the first exampleembodiment may be used as an object movement analysis system whichanalyzes movement of an object, in place of a behavior of a person. Whenthe behavior analysis system 1 in the first example embodiment is usedas an object movement analysis system as described above, the track unit100 detects an object predetermined as an object to be monitored fromthe floor image by the camera 20, in place of a person.

Further, the track unit 100 has a function of acquiring positioninformation of a person detected in each frame of the captured image(moving image) by image processing. Further, the track unit 100 has afunction of generating tracking information of a person by arranging theposition information of the person acquired in a time-series manner. Thetracking information is information such that information representing atime (e.g. information for identifying a frame, time information, orinformation representing the order) is associated with informationrelating to identification of the person detected, and the positioninformation of the person.

The detection unit 101 has a function of classifying the trackinginformation generated for each person. Specifically, in response toreceiving the tracking information from the track unit 100, thedetection unit 101 acquires information relating to identification ofthe person from the tracking information.

Further, the detection unit 101 classifies the tracking information foreach person based on the information acquired. Further, the detectionunit 101 outputs the tracking information classified for each person tothe direction calculation unit 102 and the time calculation unit 103.

Note that the aforementioned description is made based on the premisethat a person moves once on the floor to be monitored (target floor).For instance, when it is known in advance that the number of personsmoving on the target floor is one and the person moves two or moretimes, the detection unit 101 may classify the tracking information foreach movement, for instance, movement at a first time and movement at asecond time.

The direction calculation unit 102 has a function of generatingdirection information based on the tracking information. The directioninformation is information relating to a moving direction of the persondetected from the captured image.

Specifically, in response to receiving the tracking informationclassified for each person, the direction calculation unit 102correlates the tracking information which is continued timewise andspacewise. Then, the direction calculation unit 102 calculatesinformation relating to movement of the person detected from thecaptured image (in this example, start point information of movement,and moving direction information of movement on the floor) based on thetracking information correlated. The direction calculation unit 102outputs the direction information including the calculated informationto the accumulation unit 104.

The time calculation unit 103 has a function of generating timeinformation from the tracking information. The time information is timeinformation relating to movement of the person detected from thecaptured image.

Specifically, in response to receiving the tracking informationclassified for each person from the detection unit 101, the timecalculation unit 103 calculates a move time on the floor to be monitoredfor each person based on the tracking information. Then, the timecalculation unit 103 outputs the time information including the movetime calculated to the accumulation unit 104.

The accumulation unit 104 has a function of counting the number ofpieces of flow line data as follows. The flow line data is informationincluding the start point information, the moving direction information,and the move time regarding movement of the person detected from thecaptured image.

Specifically, the accumulation unit 104 receives the directioninformation from the direction calculation unit 102, and receives thetime information from the time calculation unit 103.

The accumulation unit 104 generates the flow line data based on thedirection information received and the time information received. Then,the accumulation unit 104 counts the number of pieces of the flow linedata including the same moving direction information on the floor to bemonitored. Thereafter, the accumulation unit 104 correlates the countednumber of pieces of data with the pieces of flow line data counted, andoutputs information obtained by correlating the data to the displaycontrol unit 105 as an analysis result.

The display control unit 105 has a function of causing the displaydevice 30 to display the analysis result. As described above, theanalysis result is information in which the number of pieces of the flowline data including the same moving direction information measured bythe accumulation unit 104, and the pieces of the flow line data countedare associated with each other, and represents a movement tendency ofpersons.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a display example of an analysis resultby the display control unit 105.

The analysis results 301 to 303 illustrated in FIG. 2 are informationrelating to the movement tendency of customers within a shop. Thedisplay control unit 105 controls the display device 30 such that theanalysis results 301 to 303 are displayed on a plan view of a floorwithin a shop, as illustrated in FIG. 2.

In this example, the analysis results 301 to 303 are represented by thearrows by the display control unit 105. The directions of the arrowscorrespond to moving direction information (moving directions ofpersons) included in the analysis results 301 to 303. The thicknesses ofaxes of the arrows depending on the numbers of pieces of data (thenumbers of persons) included in the analysis results 301 to 303 by theaccumulation unit 104. The lengths of axes of the arrows depending onthe time information included in the analysis results 301 to 303 (movetimes of persons (e.g. an average value of move times of a plurality ofpersons in which the moving directions are the same)). Note that a movetime of a person may be displayed by another method.

Further, in the example of FIG. 2, the positions of start points of thearrows representing the analysis results 301 to 303 are aligned at astart point 501. The positions of the start points of the arrowscorrespond to the positions of start points of movements of persons.

Note that the display example illustrated in FIG. 2 is an example. Theanalysis results 301 to 303 may be displayed in another display manner,as far as the number of pieces of data by counting of the accumulationunit 104, and pieces of the flow line data associated with the number ofpieces of data counted are simultaneously displayed.

Note that in the first example embodiment, there is described anexample, in which the aforementioned functions of the informationprocessing device 10 are implemented by the CPU which executesprocessing according to the program. In place of this, each function ofthe information processing device 10 may be implemented by a hardwarecomponent, or by combination of a hardware component and a softwarecomponent.

[Description of Operation]

In the following, an operation example of the information processingdevice 10 of the first example embodiment is described referring to aflowchart of FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operationexample of personal behavior analysis processing by the informationprocessing device 10. Note that the flowchart illustrated in FIG. 3illustrates a processing procedure to be executed by the CPU.

In response to receiving the captured image (the floor image) from thecamera 20, the track unit 100 detects the person from the floor image byimage processing, for instance (Step S101).

Thereafter, the track unit 100 calculates the position information ofthe person detected for each frame. Then, the track unit 100 generatesthe tracking information based on the position information calculated(Step S102). The track unit 100 outputs the tracking informationgenerated to the detection unit 101.

The detection unit 101 classifies the tracking information received foreach person (Step S103). Then, the detection unit 101 outputs thetracking information classified for each person to the directioncalculation unit 102 and the time calculation unit 103.

The direction calculation unit 102 generates the direction information(information including the start point information of movement and themoving direction information of movement on the floor) based on thetracking information input (Step S104). Thereafter, the directioncalculation unit 102 outputs the direction information generated to theaccumulation unit 104.

On the other hand, the time calculation unit 103 generates the timeinformation (information including the move time of the person on thefloor) based on the tracking information received (Step S105). Then, thetime calculation unit 103 outputs the time information generated to theaccumulation unit 104.

The accumulation unit 104 generates the flow line data based on thedirection information received and time information received.Thereafter, the accumulation unit 104 counts (calculates) the number ofpieces of the flow line data including the same moving directioninformation on the floor to be monitored based on the directioninformation (Step S106). The accumulation unit 104 correlates the numberof pieces of data counted with the pieces of the flow line data counted,and outputs the information to the display control unit 105 as ananalysis result.

The display control unit 105 causes the display device 30 to display theanalysis result received (Step S107).

The information processing device 10 in the first example embodimentallows for the display control unit 105 to cause the display device 30to display a plurality of pieces of information included in the analysisresult (i.e. the number of pieces of the flow line data including thesame moving direction information, and the direction information and thetime information included in the pieces of the flow line data).Specifically, the information processing device 10 is able to displaythe plurality of pieces of information included in the personal behavioranalysis result within the area to be monitored such as within a shop orwithin a warehouse (e.g. attribute information such as the movingdirection or the move time of the person, or the number of persons) in adisplay manner easily recognizable by a user.

Therefore, the user of the information processing device 10 in the firstexample embodiment can easily check the ratio of the numbers of personsmoving in the respective moving directions on the floor to be monitored.Further, the user can easily grasp a customer trend within a shop, or abehavior tendency of work of workers within a warehouse.

Second Example Embodiment [Description of Configuration]

In the following, the second example embodiment according to the presentinvention is described referring to the drawings. Note that in thedescription of the second example embodiment, the same constituentportions as the constituent portions constituting the informationprocessing device and a system provided with the same in the firstexample embodiment are indicated with the same reference numerals, andrepeated description of the common portions is omitted.

In the second example embodiment, as well as the first exampleembodiment, there is described the information processing device 10provided in the behavior analysis system 1 which analyzes the behaviorof the person on the floor. Note that as described in the description ofthe first example embodiment, the behavior analysis system 1 in thesecond example embodiment may be used as the object movement analysissystem which analyzes movement of the object, in place of the behaviorof the person. In this case, the track unit 100 detects the objectpredetermined as a target to be monitored from the floor image by thecamera 20, in place of a person.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating simply a configuration example ofthe information processing device of the second example embodiment. Notethat directions of arrows in the drawing represent an example, and donot limit the directions of signal between blocks.

As well as the information processing device 10 of the first exampleembodiment, the information processing device 10 of the second exampleembodiment is provided with a configuration, in which the personalbehavior analysis result is displayed on the display device 30 with useof the direction of the arrow, thickness of the axis, and length of theaxis. Further, the information processing device 10 of the secondexample embodiment is also provided with a configuration, in whichmovement tendency (movement path) of persons is displayed by the movingimage with use of the display device 30. Specifically, in the secondexample embodiment, the information processing device 10 is providedwith the hardware configuration as illustrated in FIG. 10. Theinformation processing device 10 includes, as functional units to beimplemented by the CPU, the track unit 100, the detection unit 101, thedirection calculation unit 102, the time calculation unit 103, theaccumulation unit 104, the display control unit 105, a data generationunit 201, and a moving image display unit 202. In the following, aconfiguration relating to moving image display is mainly described.

The detection unit 101 outputs the tracking information classified foreach person to the direction calculation unit 102, the time calculationunit 103, and the data generation unit 201.

The data generation unit 201 has a function of generating display databased on the tracking information received. Specifically, in response toreceiving the tracking information, the data generation unit 201calculates (detects) information on the start time, the movingdirection, and an end time relating to movement of the person based onthe tracking information.

Then, the data generation unit 201 generates the display data based onthe information calculated. The display data is data relating to themovement of the person, and, for instance, is data in which sets ofcoordinate points representing positions of the person detected by thedetection unit 101, and points of time are arranged in a time-seriesmanner. Thereafter, the data generation unit 201 outputs the displaydata generated to the moving image display unit 202.

The moving image display unit 202 has a function of causing to displaythe movement tendency of persons based on the display data received fromthe data generation unit 201 by the moving image.

FIG. 5 is a diagram describing a display example of the movementtendency (moving image) of persons based on the display data.

In the example of FIG. 5, the movement tendency of persons based on thedisplay data is illustrated as the flow line information pieces 401 to404. For instance, the flow line information pieces 401 to 404 in FIG. 5illustrate the movement tendency of clients on a plan view of the floorto be monitored within a shop.

In the example of FIG. 5, the flow line information pieces 401 to 404are illustrated by arrows. The shape of the axis of each arrow in thelength direction corresponds to the trace of movement of the person. Thedirection of each arrow corresponds to the moving direction of movementof the person. The length of each arrow depending on the move time ofthe person. Note that in the example of FIG. 5, the thicknesses of axesof the arrows representing the flow line information pieces 401 to 404are the same. However, as well as the first example embodiment, the axisof each arrow may be displayed with thickness depending on the number ofpersons also when the movement tendency of persons is displayed by themoving image.

The moving image display unit 202 has a function of displaying the flowline information pieces 401 to 404 as illustrated in FIG. 5 by themoving image as follows. For instance, FIG. 6 illustrates an example, inwhich the flow line information piece 401 in FIG. 5 is displayed by themoving image. FIG. 6 is a diagram describing a display example of themoving image by the moving image display unit 202.

For instance, the start point of movement of the person illustrated bythe flow line information piece 401 is A, and the end point thereof isB. The end point B is moved as illustrated in the order of (a), (b), and(c) of FIG. 6. The moving image display unit 202 causes the displaydevice 30 to display the state of the arrow which extends in such amanner as to draw the trace of movement from the start point A to theend point B by the moving image.

Specifically, (a) of FIG. 6 illustrates a state of the arrowrepresenting the flow line information piece 401 to be displayedimmediately after moving image display is started. In other words, theflow line information piece 401 is displayed as the arrow slightlyextending from the start point A.

(b) of FIG. 6 illustrates a state of the arrow representing the flowline information piece 401 to be displayed when about a half of themoving image is reproduced.

(c) of FIG. 6 illustrates a state of the arrow representing the flowline information piece 401 to be displayed immediately before movingimage display is finished.

As described above, as illustrated in the order of (a), (b), and (c) ofFIG. 6, the moving image display unit 202 causes the display device 30to display the flow line information piece 401 by the moving image byextending the arrow in such a manner as to draw the trace of movement ofthe end point B. Then, the movement display unit 202 terminatesreproduction of the moving image when the end point B reaches a finalpoint.

Note that a method for displaying the moving image representing the flowline information by the moving image display unit 202 is not limited tothe aforementioned method. As far as a state of movement of a person isknown, any display method may be used.

For instance, the moving image display unit 202 may have a function ofcausing the display device 30 to display the plurality of flow lineinformation pieces 401 to 404 as illustrated in FIG. 5 by the movingimage. FIG. 7 is a diagram describing the order in which the flow lineinformation pieces 401 to 404 by the moving image display unit 202 arecaused to be displayed by the display device 30 by the moving image.

Specifically, the movements of persons respectively represented by theflow line information pieces 401 to 404 in FIG. 5 are performed in theorder of the flow line information piece 401→the flow line informationpiece 402→the flow line information piece 403→the flow line informationpiece 404. In this case, the moving image display unit 202 causes thedisplay device 30 to display the arrows representing the flow lineinformation pieces 401 to 404 in a time-series manner according to theorder.

In other words, the moving image display unit 202 causes the displaydevice 30 to display movement of the arrow based on the flow lineinformation piece 401 representing the state of movement of the personperformed at a first time by the moving image, for instance, in a periodT1 in FIG. 7. Then, after the moving image display based on the flowline information piece 401 is terminated, the moving image display unit202 causes the display device 30 to display the movement of the arrowbased on the flow line information piece 402 representing a state ofmovement performed at a next time by the moving image, for instance, ina period T2 in FIG. 7.

Further, as well as the above, after moving image display based on theflow line information piece 402 is terminated, the moving image displayunit 202 causes the display device 30 to display the movement of thearrow based on the flow line information piece 403 representing a stateof movement performed at a next time by the moving image, for instance,in a period T3 in FIG. 7. Furthermore, after moving image display basedon the flow line information piece 403 is terminated, the moving imagedisplay unit 202 causes the display device 30 to display the movement ofthe arrow based on the flow line information piece 404 representing astate of movement performed at a next time by the moving image, forinstance, in a period T4 in FIG. 7.

Durations of the periods T1 to T4 during which the arrows based on therespective flow line information pieces 401 to 404 are displayed by themoving image depending on the move times of persons represented by theflow line information pieces 401 to 404. Note that the periods T1 to T4may be the same durations of times as the actual move times of persons,or may be times shortened by a predetermined ratio.

FIG. 8 is a diagram describing another example in which the moving imagedisplay unit 202 causes the display device 30 to display the flow lineinformation pieces 401 to 404 by the moving image. In the example ofFIG. 8, the moving image display unit 202 causes the display device 30to display movements of persons started at different times under anassumption that the movements are started at the same time by the movingimage.

Specifically, it is assumed that movements of persons represented by theflow line information pieces 401 to 404 are respectively started atdifferent times. On the other hand, the moving image display unit 202displays the flow line information pieces 401 to 404 by the moving imageduring the periods T1 to T4 illustrated in FIG. 8. Specifically, themoving image display unit 202 starts to display the respective flow lineinformation pieces 401 to 404 by the moving image at the same time. Inother words, the moving image display unit 202 displays the flow lineinformation pieces 401 to 404 simultaneously by the moving image.

Note that even when the flow line information pieces 401 to 404 arestarted to be displayed simultaneously by the moving image, durations ofthe periods T1 to T4 during which the arrows are moved based on the flowline information pieces 401 to 404 correspond to move times of personsrepresented by the respective flow line information pieces 401 to 404.Note that the periods T1 to T4 may be the same durations of times as thetimes during which persons actually move, or may be times shorted by apredetermined ratio.

The configuration of the information processing device 10 of the secondexample embodiment other than the above is the same as the first exampleembodiment.

[Description of Operation]

In the following, an operation example of the information processingdevice 10 of the second example embodiment is described referring toFIG. 9. FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example ofpersonal behavior analysis processing by the information processingdevice 10. The flowchart of FIG. 9 illustrates a processing procedure tobe executed by the CPU in the information processing device 10.

For instance, the track unit 100 detects the person from the capturedimage (the floor image) received from the camera 20 (Step S201).

Thereafter, the track unit 100 calculates the position information ofthe person detected for each frame. Then, the track unit 100 generatesthe tracking information based on each position information calculated(Step S202). The track unit 100 outputs the tracking informationgenerated to the detection unit 101.

The detection unit 101 classifies the tracking information received foreach person (Step S203). Thereafter, the detection unit 101 outputs thetracking information classified for each person to the data generationunit 201.

The data generation unit 201 generates display data relating to movementof each person based on the tracking information received for eachperson (Step S204). Thereafter, the data generation unit 201 outputs thedisplay data generated to the moving image display unit 202.

The moving image display unit 202 causes the display device 30 todisplay the state of movement of each person (flow line information) bythe moving image based on the display data received (Step S205).

The information processing device 10 in the second example embodimenthas a function of allowing the moving image display unit 202 to displaythe state of movement of the person detected from the captured image ofthe camera 20 by the moving image on the display device 30.

Thus, the information processing device 10 allows the user of the device10 to dynamically grasp movement of the person on the floor to bemonitored. Further, the information processing device 10 allows the userto dynamically compare movements of the plurality of persons on thefloor to be monitored.

Further, the information processing device 10 in the second exampleembodiment allows the moving image display unit 202 to display the stateof movement of each person in the order of movements by the moving imageon the display device 30. Further, the moving image display unit 202 isalso able to cause the display device 30 to display the state ofmovement of each person under the assumption that the movements arestarted at the same time by the moving image. In this way, displayingunder the assumption that movements are started at the same time isadvantageous for the information processing device 10 in allowing theuser to easily compare the moving direction or the move time regardingmovement of each person.

Other Example Embodiment

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating simply a configuration of aninformation processing device of another example embodiment according tothe present invention. In the example of FIG. 11, an informationprocessing device 5 includes a detection unit 6 and a display controlunit 7. The detection unit 6 has a function of classifying information(tracking information) relating to movement of an object to be monitoredbased on movement path information included in the information for eachmovement path. The display control unit 7 has a function of controllinga display device to display an arrow whose thickness represents thenumber of pieces of information (tracking information) classified foreach movement path, and whose shape and direction represent the movementpath on the display device.

The information processing device 5 has the aforementionedconfiguration, thereby being able to display the number of objectsmoving along a predetermined path, and the movement path simultaneously.

Further, the display control unit 7 may control the display device todisplay the arrow whose length depending on a move time included in flowline information on the display device.

With such the configuration, the information processing device 5 is alsoable to display the move time of the object together.

Further, the information processing device 5 may include a moving imagedisplay unit that causes to display a trace of movement representing theflow line information of the object by the moving image representing astate that the arrow is extending.

With such the configuration, the information processing device 5 is ableto cause to dynamically display the state of movement of the object inan area to be monitored.

Further, the moving image display unit may cause to display a state thatarrows depending on pieces of the flow line information of a pluralityof objects are extending in the order in which movements of the objectsare started by the moving image, respectively.

With such the configuration, the information processing device 5 is ableto cause to display such that the user can dynamically compare thestates of movements of objects.

Further, the moving image display unit may display states that arrowsdepending on a plurality of pieces of the flow line information of theobject are extending simultaneously by the moving image.

The information processing device 5 having the aforementionedconfiguration is able to cause to display states of movements of objectsunder the assumption that the movements are started at the same time.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described withreference to exemplary embodiments thereof, the invention is not limitedto these embodiments. It will be understood by those of ordinary skillin the art that various changes in form and details may be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention asdefined by the claims.

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority fromJapanese patent application No. 2014-184741, filed on Sep. 11, 2014, thedisclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

A part or all of the aforementioned example embodiments may be describedin the following Supplementary Notes, but is not limited to thefollowing.

(Supplementary Note 1)

A display system includes:

a detection unit that has a function as a classifying unit whichclassifies flow line information of an object for each movement pathrepresented by the flow line information; and

a display control unit that displays an arrow whose thickness reflectsthe number of pieces of the flow line information classified for apredetermined movement path and whose direction and shape reflect thepredetermined movement path.

(Supplementary Note 2)

In the display system according to Supplementary Note 1, the displaycontrol unit displays the arrow whose length reflects a move timerepresented by the flow line information.

(Supplementary Note 3)

In the display system according to Supplementary Note 1 or 2, thedisplay system includes a moving image display unit that displays astate that the arrow is extending from a start point of the movementpath represented by the flow line information of the object to an endpoint by a moving image.

(Supplementary Note 4)

In the display system according to Supplementary Note 3, the movingimage display unit displays a state that the arrows depending on aplurality of pieces of the flow line information of the object areextending in the order in which movements represented by the pieces ofthe flow line information are started by the moving image, respectively.

(Supplementary Note 5)

In the display system according to Supplementary Note 3, the movingimage display unit displays a state that the arrows depending on aplurality of pieces of the flow line information of the object areextending simultaneously by the moving image.

(Supplementary Note 6)

A display method includes:

classifying flow line information of an object for each movement pathrepresented by the flow line information; and

displaying an arrow whose thickness reflects the number of pieces of theflow line information classified for a predetermined movement path, andwhose direction and shape reflect the predetermined movement path.

(Supplementary Note 7)

In the display method according to Supplementary Note 6, the arrow whoselength reflects a move time represented by the flow line information isdisplayed.

(Supplementary Note 8)

A display program causes a computer to execute:

classifying flow line information of an object for each movement pathrepresented by the flow line information; and displaying an arrow whosethickness reflects the number of pieces of the flow line informationclassified for a predetermined movement path, and whose direction andshape reflect the predetermined movement path.

(Supplementary Note 9)

In the display program according to Supplementary Note 8, the displayprogram causes the computer to execute:

displaying an arrow, whose length reflects a move time represented bythe flow line information.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

-   10 Information processing device-   100 Track unit-   101 Detection unit-   102 Direction calculation unit-   103 Time calculation unit-   104 Accumulation unit-   105 Display control unit-   201 Data generation unit-   202 Moving image display unit

1. An information processing device comprising: at least one memoryconfigured to store executable instructions; and at least one processorconfigured to execute the instructions to: determine a plurality ofmovement paths of multiple people within a target floor each based oninformation about a plurality of positions of the multiple people;determine a number of persons moving along a similar movement pathwithin the target floor based on information about each of thedetermined movement paths; and output a target floor image including atleast two arrows, wherein the at least two arrows deviate from eachother at approximately a same position, a direction of each of the atleast two arrows is based on one of the determined movement paths, and adimension of each of the at least two arrows is based on the determinednumber of persons moving along the similar movement path within thetarget floor.
 2. The information processing device according to claim 1,wherein an axis of one of the at least two arrows includes a curve basedon the target movement path.
 3. The information processing deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein a start position of an axis of one of theat least two arrows is based on information about a start position ofone of the determined movement paths within the target floor.
 4. Theinformation processing device according to claim 1, wherein a length ofan axis of one of the at least two arrows depends on an average time ofmoves of a plurality of persons moving along the similar target movementpath within the target floor.
 5. The information processing deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein an axis of one of the at least two arrowsincludes a first part with a first thickness and a second part with asecond thickness different from the first thickness.
 6. The informationprocessing device according to claim 1, wherein the at least two arrowsvisualize information about at least two of the determined movementpaths within the target floor.
 7. A display method comprising:determining, by a processor, a plurality of movement paths of multiplepeople within a target floor each based on information about a pluralityof positions of the multiple people; determining, by the processor, anumber of persons moving along a similar movement path within the targetfloor based on information about each of the determined movement paths;and providing, by the processor, a target floor image including at leasttwo arrows, wherein the at least two arrows deviate from each other atapproximately a same position, a direction of each of the at least twoarrows being based on one of the determined movement paths, and adimension of each of the at least two arrows being based on thedetermined number of persons moving along the similar movement pathwithin the target floor.
 8. The display method according to claim 7,wherein an axis of one of the at least two arrows includes a curve basedon the target movement path.
 9. The display method according to claim 7,wherein a start position of an axis of one of the at least two arrows isbased on information about a start position of one of the determinedmovement paths within the target floor.
 10. The display method accordingto claim 7, wherein a length of an axis of one of the at least twoarrows depends on an average time of moves of a plurality of personsmoving along the similar target movement path within the target floor.11. The display method according to claim 7, wherein an axis of one ofthe at least two arrows includes a first part with a first thickness anda second part with a second thickness different from the firstthickness.
 12. The display method according to claim 7, wherein the atleast two arrows visualize information about at least two of thedetermined movement paths within the target floor.
 13. A non-transitoryprogram storage medium storing a computer program that causes a computerto execute: determining a plurality of movement paths of multiple peoplewithin a target floor each based on information about a plurality ofpositions of the multiple people; determining a number of persons movingalong a similar movement path within the target floor based oninformation about each of the determined movement paths; and providing atarget floor image including at least two arrows to display, wherein theat least two arrows deviate from each other at approximately a sameposition, a direction of each of the at least two arrows being based onone of the determined movement paths, a dimension of each of the atleast two arrows being based on the determined number of persons movingalong the similar movement path within the target floor.
 14. Thenon-transitory program storage medium according to claim 13, wherein anaxis of one of the at least two arrows includes a curve based on thetarget movement path.
 15. The non-transitory program storage mediumaccording to claim 13, wherein a start position of an axis of one of theat least two arrows is based on information about a start position ofone of the determined movement paths within the target floor.
 16. Thenon-transitory program storage medium according to claim 13, wherein alength of an axis of one of the at least two arrows depends on anaverage time of moves of a plurality of persons moving along the similartarget movement path within the target floor.
 17. The non-transitoryprogram storage medium according to claim 13, wherein an axis of one ofthe at least two arrows includes a first part with a first thickness anda second part with a second thickness different from the firstthickness.
 18. The non-transitory program storage medium according toclaim 13, wherein the at least two arrows visualize information about atleast two of the determined movement paths within the target floor.